<p>Hey everyone!!! (to those who just took the SAT: hope you did well!!!!)
The PSAT is coming up, and I'm a junior in search of getting above a 210. I just took the practice test, and got a 219, however this is because I disregarded the time limit for the second critical reading section. Towards the end of the 25 minutes, I started to panic because I had 3 questions left. So I allowed myself another 2 minutes, and well...that was unacceptable because that will not be allowed this wednesday.
so my questions are...
How do I stop myself from panicking and loosing focus at the end of the time limits? Any quick tips?
Along with budgeting my time, how can I really, and I mean REALLY, focus on test day to avoid making stupid mistakes? When I graded the practice test, I found the stupidest mistakes....ugh that was frustrating. I blamed that on the time.
So please, share your tips and tricks, and I will forever be grateful :D</p>
<p>I actually got the same score and i did the same thing not because of the pressure for time but there was alot of noise in my house (i hate that). But when i graded my test, i reveiwed the writing and found that the stupidest mistakes were from writing…2 questions that i got wrong were easy as heellllll!!!1. Im gona drink red bull before the PSAT’s to ensure my alertness. </p>
<p>PS/ if i had gotten those two questions, i woulda had a 225. LIFE sucks!</p>
<p>Did anyone take the PSAT that comes with the Student Guide? I found the time limits to be unusually liberal given the material; I finished the 25-minute Math section in 11 minutes and the 25-minute CR section in 16 minutes.</p>
<p>Well a good strategy I used was to keep staring at the clock. Say 10 minutes have passed and you are only reading the small passages, it is a signal to get through that passage and onto the questions! Although it does push you, you just have to live with it. I think through practice ( i never timed myself, but understood the material better) I kept a good pace on the sat.</p>
<p>^silverturtle–hahah. I finished the math in 10 minutes. HA!! But i had more trouble in the CR. finished in 23 minutes. But yea it was more liberal than usual.</p>
<p>I’m a fast test taker too…I don’t get the indecision some people face. It’s read a question, pick an answer. I mean, of course there are some where you go back and forth, but if it’s late in a section, just skip it.</p>
<p>I don’t understand why you guys finish the tests so quickly. I’m a slow test taker, but I’m not indecisive. I usually finish with about 2-3 minutes to spare, no matter how easy or difficult the section, for EVERY test. That’s really all you need. Accuracy is more important than all else if you can finish everything on time.</p>
<p>planetfruitcake…it’s great that you can finish up quick…but that’s not the point is it? </p>
<p>dareallycoolguy0…I’m a slow test taker too. Today, I was getting really frustrated with the time limit, because my proctor kept standing up with 3 minutes left and that freaked me out.</p>
<p>Eckk I think I did alright. I was hoping for 215+ but I think I got between a 195 and 205…not so great but that’s ok :)</p>
<p>Yes, I agree! When I took the PSAT I had the right answer to a free-response math question and I only had another minute to check over my answers. Right at the last couple of seconds, I was completely idiotic and changed it to another answer. I don’t know why I even attempted to check this since I had so little time left. GR!! And that is the question that would have put me at the cutoff, but since I doubt myself so much, I just had to mess everything up and score one point below the cutoff! I have been so mad at myself ever since I received my score! I wish I could overcome this self-doubt/ panicking issue when there is little time left!</p>